Teaching kids about fine art

I love art, and I dont' know nearly as much about it as I would like to, so I decided that it's important to me that my kids learn about art and be surrounded by art from a young age. I've tried taking them to museums though, and at 4 and 6, they spend more time nearly destroying things or complaining that there's nothing to play with than they actually spend appreciating art. So I decided I needed to start with a lower key approach.



These fine art pages from Erica at Enrichment Studies are my new favorite thing ever. Each art page has a famous painting with some facts written underneath. You just print them and hang them around the house - she recommends the bathroom, where everyone will see them. Just becoming familiar with art and recognizing it is often enough to make kids excited about it. If you sign up for her newsletter, she sends a free set of art pages every month, but if you want a specific artist or theme to match your curriculum, she has everything on sale for 25% off now for back to school (that's my affiliate link if you don't mind).



These two board books are a great introduction to art for very young children. Again, just looking at art and being familiar to it is so good for kids' brains and psychology says makes it more likely they will like it later.




My kids have these two books, and they give good insight into these artists' lives while sharing images from their work. The Van Gogh book has a quote from the artist accompanying each picture, and the Matisse one tells the story of his later years and his experimentation with different media and technique.

Art Teacher Cindy Ingram has a number of resources on her website designed for art teachers, including a bundle of art appreciation printables that you can get for free for signing up for her email. I recently got her course on How to talk to kids about art as part of a bundle and I fell in love (This isn't an affiliate link, I just really like it.

And once your kids are a little interested in art, or if they express interest in a specific genre, you can explore it more with them with the wonderful database at Wikiart without having to worry about them breaking anything (except your phone or computer, can't help you with that one)

Introducing Classical Music to Kids

I like music. And while my kids are still very small, I think it's important to introduce them to culture and classical music is one of the places I find I can do that.

One of my new favorite resources is this Classics for Kids podcast. Each month it focuses on a different composer, with a short podcast on one aspect of that composer's work each week. I have been picking a composer from their list each month and then finding other music by that composer on Amazon prime or my library's Hoopla app to play in the background while they do other work throughout the month.

Gena from Music in our Homeschool has lots of free 15 minute music lessons for elementary students, including this one on Star Wars that my kids love. My six year old points out motifs in movie music now!

Squilt Music which stands for Super Quiet Uninterrupted Listening Time has simple lessons and organizers that you can use to teach kids to pay attention to specific elements in a piece of music. There is a free downloadable lesson on In the Hall of the Mountain King for submitting your email.

Erica from Enrichment Studies offers this free Handel Unit study to all her subscribers, along with a ton of other goodies, including a Jazz composer unit on Duke Ellington. Her studies are jam packed with information, videos, downloads, and links.




This book tells a story to go with the Camille Saint-Saens's Symphony The Carnival of the Animals. It comes with a CD of the book read by John Lithgow set over the music of the symphony. There is a similar book available for Peter and the Wolf. It's a great way to get very young children interested in classical music.

What are some ways you introduce classical music to your kids?

So there's going to be a solar eclipse

So. In case there's anyone on earth who didn't know, there's going to be a solar eclipse on Monday.

A what?

You know, a solar eclipse. The thing where the sun is blotted out by a giant monster from outer space? Wait, that's not what happens? Guess I better start learning some astronomy.

My kids' favorite resources are these videos from Mystery Doug, a series of short videos that answer kids' science questions. You can subscribe to get one in your email every week for free. The direct links to the ones about the eclipse are:

What's the big deal about the Solar Eclipse?

How dangerous is it to look directly at the sun?

We also liked this video from the Sci Show kids channel on Youtube



We also read this book:




It was cute and had a long section on eclipses. My kids can only handle a non fiction book without a narrative element for so long though.

Enjoy the eclipse, and don't forget your eclipse glasses or your pinhole projector!

Teaching about bias, race, and social justice

I've been thinking about and struggling with this question a little bit because it is not one on which I am an expert, but I think it's so important that I needed to put some things out there.

We need to talk to our kids about racism and social justice. We need to talk to all the kids. Saying that we don't see color isn't valid. Pretending it doesn't exist is a privileged position. We need to talk.

Since I'm not an expert, I want to direct you first and foremost to the #CharlottesvilleCurriculum hashtag on Twitter. Amazing and important things are being said there by people much smarter than me.

I also think one of the best resources out there is Teaching Tolerance and I particularly like the lesson on Exploring Race in Children's books.

A few books that have crossed my house recently:





I love this series of biographies, and my kids really connected to Rosa Parks's story and asked all the right questions about racism in America. My worry with teaching it in a historical perspective is that it gives the impression that racism in America is over, which is problematic, so make sure you make that part of your continued discussion.



My daughter picked up this book because she loves Misty Copeland. What I love most about it is that she directly talks about how hard it was to grow up and never see dancers that look like her. This is a great way to start a discussion about representation in media.




This autobiography gives an age appropriate introduction to what it means to be transgender. It's kind of amazing how easily my kids accepted this idea compared to a lot of adults. Jazz is older now and there are books about her for older kids/teens too, but I haven't read them yet.

It's just a beginning. Like I said, I'm not an expert, and if you have good resources, I'd love to hear about them because I'm still learning too. The important thing is to talk about it, have a critical eye, and start to teach your kids to do the same.

Get 'em moving

It never fails that when I need to get something done, my kids are full of energy and can't sit still. We try to get outside and play whenever we can, but it isn't always practical when I'm in the middle of something or we only have a few minutes between projects. So I always make sure I have backup.

Go noodle is probably our favorite kid activity website. It has lots of different videos and games that involve movement for kids, everything from yoga to sports training. My younger daughter really loves the guided dance videos, and my older daughter loves the Run with the pros segments where you do a mock track event with training tips from Olympic athletes.




I absolutely adore Cosmic Kids yoga. In each yoga story, Jaime tells a story complete with yoga movement for kids. I get a good workout from these, too! The channel also has guided meditations and relaxations for kids, shorter "yoga disco" dance videos, and stories to listen to without movement.



Although probably not as pedagogically sound as the other two, Bo on the Go is a long time favorite here. In these cute videos, Bo asks kids  to give her energy by moving with her. They run, jump, crawl, and other movements to help her solve the problem.

When all that fails, we can usually blow up a balloon and bat it around, play Simon Says, or do some basic jumping games - but it's always good to have a few things I can put on for my kids to do while I get my own work done.

What do you like to do when your kids need a brain and movement break?

Two deeply discounted bundles you may want to buy

The Super Parenting Bundle contains tons of resources, including a toddler/preschool music class. And through today you can get a free upgrade to e-reader versions of the content.







I love this bundle, which has tons of thematic units, a year worth of printables, and some really neat planners. It should be more than enough stuff to get me entirely through the upcoming school year!

Gorillas, oh my!

This unit was designed based on a request from my lovely friend Charity. I meant to wait longer before posting it but I got excited and couldn't wait!




This whole gorilla unit spirals from this book, which I adore. It teaches about the value of protecting other living things as well as of working together. Charity has it, I have it. My kids love it. Even Jane Goodall loves it. Have I mentioned I love this entire series?



This was the first book I thought of when I heard gorillas. It tells the story of a gorilla who was taught to sign and had a pet kitten. I have loved it since I was 5 years old and saw it on the Reading Rainbow episode Feelings, which you can buy for $1.99 on Amazon or watch free with a Prime channels subscription to PBS Kids.


This cute video from the All things animal series uses the premise of aliens visiting Earth to share lots of helpful facts about gorillas.



This video is a little shorter and more basic with easy to read text for young readers.

National Geographic Kids also has lots of great resources for online research. I love the Amazing animal: Gorilla video as well as this mountain gorilla overview which is full of great information and lots of links to dive deeper.

Also, definitely check out the Ape Cam from the San Diego zoo! I could sit and watch the apes for hours ... when I'm supposed to be cleaning my house...

Founding Fathers and the Revolution (Social Studies)

This summer I decided I wanted to cover some history of the revolution with my kids. They were interested, so I dove in from as many angles as I could. 

 

 My family loves this entire series of books, and the George Washington one is no different. It highlights the choices he made that helped to change the world, even when those choices were hard.

   

 I had, myself, read almost nothing about John Adams or Thomas Jefferson, so when I decided that was a thing I was going to do with my kids, I was as fascinated as they were. This book highlights both the contrasts between Adams and Jefferson, and the way they worked together to found our country. 

This episode of Liberty's Kids shows the Founding Fathers signing the Declaration of Independence. My kids LOVED it. The entire Liberty's Kids series is also available on Netflix, or you can buy the DVD on Amazon for less than $10 here: Liberty's Kids: Education Edition + Digital Content.

I also have to say that I love School House Rocks, and these two videos are perfect for this theme.

And one more easy resource that my older daughter loves is the game Mission US: For Crown or colony.

This is an online game where kids get to play the role of a young man in Boston during the time of the revolution. They get to make choices at various key moments and to watch the revolution begin to unfold. The website says the game is for middle school age kids, but my six year old is able to follow it very well. Reading skills are required.

Do you have any other resources for the revolution and founding fathers that you'd like to share? Are there any other topics you'd like to see me cover? Please comment below!

I teach too

I want to start with a confession.

I'm not a homeschool mom.

Don't get me wrong, I love homeschool moms. But I am not one. I don't have the temperament. My kids don't have the need; they enjoy school. I like our public schools. I like that my kids go to school every day.  Some of you don't. For whatever reason, you keep your kids home with you and educate them at home, and that's awesome! Good schools are awesome. Good homeschools are awesome. All of these things are awesome.

But I teach too.

I'm a teacher by training, a high school English teacher, and really since I was a little girl my default has been teaching. I'm a SAHM now to a first grader and a 4 year old who will attend half day preschool three days a week in the fall. I'm grateful to be home with them. I really am.

But I also love to teach. 

And so, since they were very small, I've been enriching and supplementing with stuff I do at home. Finding lessons and activities is like a game for me. I enjoy it, it gives me a sense of meaning. I'm good at it.

And recently I've realized slowly that this propensity to seek out this stuff doesn't come naturally to everyone. And I've realized that maybe this stuff I do with and for my own kids because it's what I'm meant to do would be helpful to other moms. Moms who want to enrich and supplement school like I do and moms who educate completely at home. And I though, maybe just maybe what I have is worth sharing.

So here I am. Sharing what I find, what I do. If there's anything you would like help finding for your own kids, by all means tell me in a comment and I'd be glad to write a post for you.